Keane’s paintings draw on images from the great Stalinist terror of the 1930s. They are sourced from mug shots of arrested victims (some well-known, some anonymous) at a time when no-one, from the top of the Bolshevik hierarchy to the humblest worker, was safe from accusation of sabotage, betrayal or political deviation.
Fear No. 25171541, 2013. Oil on linen, 200cm x 150cm.
© John Keane. Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York
